Reversible Twist Top Bandeau Bikini

ABSTRACT

The bandeau bikini top of the present invention comprises a chest engaging portion which incorporates two reversible cups. The bandeau bikini top has a first side, a second side, and a center portion capable of being twisted. Each side has a first medial portion further comprising a pattern and a second medial portion further comprising a pattern, where the first medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the second medial portion of the second side and the second medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the first medial portion of the second side, such that when the center portion is twisted each side will present the same pattern.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

N/A

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates women's swimwear, particularly bandeau type bikini tops.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Women's' bathing suits, in particular the bikini bathing suit tops are an extremely popular article of sportswear. One drawback of the bikini bathing suit top is its tendency to slide about or otherwise move out of place, thus resulting in unwanted exposure to the wearer.

As a result there is a need in the art for a bikini top that will fasten securely to the chest portion of a woman's torso such that it will not be dislocated even during physical activity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention of the present disclosure is a reversible twist front bandeau bikini bathing suit top that is adapted to securely fasten to a woman's torso about her chest so as to facilitate physical activities without the risk of unwanted exposure. The design of the twisted bandeau is such that it will not slide down or otherwise move out of place once it is fastened.

The bandeau bikini top of the present invention comprises a chest engaging portion which has a first side, a second side, and a center portion capable of being twisted. Each side has a first medial portion further comprising a pattern and a second medial portion further comprising a pattern, where the first medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the second medial portion of the second side and the second medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the first medial portion of the second side, such that when the center portion is twisted each side will present the same pattern. The chest engaging portion also has two cups, each cup further comprising a concave aspect and a convex aspect, where the cups are coupled to the bandeau bikini top such that one cup presents its concave aspect and one cup presents its convex aspect on each side of the bandeau bikini top such that when the center portion is twisted each side will present either the concave or convex aspects of both cups respectively. The concave and convex aspects of each cup is reversible. Due to the unique design of the bandeau and the reversible concave/convex aspects of each cup, the bandeau bikini top of the present invention is reversible, giving the wearer the option of 2 different looks with each bandeau top.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1: Shows the bandeau bikini top in its twisted and untwisted conformations.

FIG. 2: Shows a cutaway view of the bandeau bikini top in order to illustrate the positioning of the concave and convex aspects of the cups in the untwisted and twisted conformation of the top.

FIG. 3 shows illustrates the interaction of the various aspects and patterns of the bandeau bikini top that make it reversible.

FIG. 4 shows the reversible nature of the concave and convex aspects of the cups.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The bandeau (5) is a strapless garment adapted to be worn around a woman's chest. The bandeau further comprises a first side, (10) a second side, (15) a center portion (20) and two end portions (25). The bandeau is preferably made from a stretchable material such as nylon. Two cups, (30) adapted to engage the contours of a wearer's chest are coupled to the bandeau in any manner known to those skilled in the art, such as sewing or with a textile glue. For example, the cups may be sewn in between two pieces of fabric so they are completely enclosed within the bikini top and not visible. The cups may be made of any suitable material known to those skilled in the art, as in, for example foam. The cups further comprise a concave aspect (35) and a convex aspect (40). The cups should be suitably flexible such that their concave and convex aspects can be reversed, as in, for example by pressing against the convex aspect. The cups are coupled to the bandeau such that each side of the bandeau has one cup presenting a concave aspect and one cup presenting a convex aspect. The bandeau is prepared for wearing by forming a twist (50) in the center portion such that both cups present their concave aspects toward the wearer.

The bandeau may be designed to be reversible allowing the wearer to choose between two different looks. In order to accomplish the reversible feature the bandeau may be divided into at least two portions on each side, a first medial portion (55) and a second medial portion (60). To incorporate the reversible feature with the twist feature, the first medial portion and the second medial portion on each side will be different. The first and second medial portions may be identified as follows: when placed on a flat surface facing a user, the first medial portion will correspond with the left side of the bandeau and the second medial portion will correspond with the right side. For example, the first side of the bandeau will further comprise a left portion with pattern one (65) and a right portion with pattern two (70). The word “pattern” should be construed broadly to encompass any design including solid colors, patterns, textures, prints, or the like. The second side of the bandeau would have the same patterns but on opposite portions, ie the right portion will have pattern one and the left portion will have pattern two. Given this arrangement, the bandeau will present the same pattern on each side once the twist is formed in the center portion. To reverse the bandeau, the concave/convex aspects of the cups are reversed and the twist is formed in an opposite direction.

Two stretchable straps (75) are coupled to the two end portions (80) of the bandeau, as in, for example by sewing. The straps wrap around the back of a wearer and fasten the bandeau in place. The straps may fasten by any means known to those skilled in the art, as in, for example by being tied together.

FIG. 1 shows a first side of the chest engaging portion of the bandeau bikini top (10) in its untwisted (85) and twisted (90) conformations. The concave aspect (35) of a cup is visible on the first medial portion (55) of the bandeau and the convex aspect of a cup (40) is visible on the second medial portion (60) of the bandeau. In order to be ready to wear, the center portion (20) of the bandeau bikini top is twisted (50). In the twisted conformation, the concave aspects (35) of both cups are facing the user. To put the bandeau bikini top on, a wearer would place the twisted bandeau against her chest and fasten the straps behind her back. The fastening may be accomplished with any fastener known to those skilled in the art or the straps may be tied behind the wearer's back.

FIG. 2 shows a cutaway view of the bandeau bikini top in order to illustrate the positioning of the concave and convex aspects of the cups in the untwisted and twisted conformation of the top. In the untwisted conformation (85), the convex and concave aspects of the cups present in opposite directions. Once a twist (45) has been formed in the center portion of the bandeau bikini top, the concave and convex portions of each cup present in the same direction.

FIG. 3 shows illustrates the interaction of the various patterns of the bandeau bikini top that make it reversible. In the untwisted conformation the bandeau bikini top presents a first side (10) and a second side (15) where each side further comprises a first medial portion (55) further comprising a pattern (65) and a second medial portion (60) further comprising a pattern (70), where the first medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the second medial portion of the second side and the second medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the first medial portion of the second side. In order to prepare the bandeau bikini top to be worn, a twist (45) is formed in the center portion (20) of the bandeau. Once the twist is formed, the bandeau bikini top is in its twisted conformation. In the twisted conformation the bandeau bikini top presents an inner facing side and an outward facing side. The cups on the inner facing side present their concave portions so as to conform to the contours of the wearer's chest. Also, once in the twisted conformation the patterns of each of matching the medial portions are on the same side: the inner facing side and the outward facing side respectively.

FIG. 4 shows the reversible nature of the concave (35) and convex (40) aspects of the cups. In order to be reversible, the cups of the bandeau bikini top should be reversible so that the concave aspects of the cups can be presented on either side of the bandeau in its twisted conformation. In order to reverse the concave and convex aspects of the cups, a user will apply pressure (95) to the convex extremity of the cup and press so that the aspect reverses.

Materials

The bandeau bikini top of the present invention may be constructed from any materials known to those skilled in the art. For the chest engaging portion of the bikini top stretchable materials are particularly contemplated such as nylon and spandex, either alone or in combination. Stretchable materials are also contemplated for the straps that wrap around the back of the wearer. In addition to standard materials, the use of “tan-through” materials are also contemplated, particularly for the straps. The use of tan-through material, such as the material described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,546,493 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,994,077, hereby incorporated by reference, is particularly contemplated.

The cups for the bandeau bikini top of the present invention may be made of any material with appropriate structural characteristics known to those skilled in the art. Particularly contemplated materials are open and closed cell foams. The materials used should be capable of withstanding exposure to saltwater, UV radiation and washing.

These and other systems, methods, objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the embodiments and drawings.

All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference. References to items in the singular should be understood to include items in the floral, and vise versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intended to express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations of conjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwise stated or clear from context

While the present disclosure includes many embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is not to be limited by the foregoing examples, but is to be understood in the broadest sense allowable by law.

With respect to the above, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components listed or the steps set forth in the description or illustrated in the drawings. The various apparatus and methods of the disclosed invention are capable of other embodiments, and of being practiced and carried out in various ways that would be readily known to those skilled in the art, given the present disclosure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as in any way limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based by be utilized as a basis for designing other inventions with similar properties. It is important therefore that the embodiments, objects, and claims herein, be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that the components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. However, like parts do not always have like reference numerals. Moreover, all illustrations are intended to convey concepts, where relative sizes, shapes and other detailed attributes may be illustrated schematically rather than literally or precisely. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A bandeau bikini top comprising: A chest engaging portion, the chest engaging portion further comprising a first side and a second side, the first side and the second side each further comprising a first medial portion further comprising a pattern and a second medial portion further comprising a pattern, where the first medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the second medial portion of the second side and the second medial portion of the first side has the same pattern as the first medial portion of the second side; a center portion; two cups, each cup further comprising a concave aspect and a convex aspect, where the cups are coupled to the bandeau bikini top such that one cup presents its concave aspect and one cup presents its convex aspect on each side of the bandeau bikini top and where the concave and convex aspects of each cup are reversible.
 2. The bandeau bikini top of claim 1 where the bandeau bikini top further comprises 2 end portions and 2 straps extending from each end portion adapted to wrap around the back of a wearer.
 3. The bandeau bikini top of claim 2 further comprising a fastener coupled to the straps adapted to wrap around the back of a wearer.
 4. The bandeau bikini top of claim 1 wherein the two cups are encased inside the chest engaging portion
 5. The bandeau bikini top of claim 2 wherein the 2 straps are made of a tan through material.
 6. The bandeau bikini top of claim 1 wherein the chest engaging portion is made of a textile.
 7. The bandeau bikini top of claim 6 wherein the textile is nylon.
 8. The bandeau bikini top of claim 6 wherein the textile is spandex. 